Sounds within the Blackness
The grassy plains of the Land of Sound where the most irritating working grounds for any shinobi on a secrecy mission. Aside from a few bushed here and there, there was actually no cover at all, and one could see a rabbit licking himself from three miles away without even focusing on it. Despite this, Darui had done a pretty good job at hiding himself. Dressed in a worn-out, half-torn brown robe which covered most of his body and face, any unobservant ninja would pass him off as a traveler in search of a place to stay for the night. Any Sound shinobi thinking that would be dead wrong. He had traced the new leader of the sound down after months of careful research, and due the village's infamous past, had been ordered to dispose of him as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side. He shouldn't be far anymore now... Sword in hand, the leader of the Land of Sound, Bakuto Harī was at work training his skills. Slicing through the medium length weeds around him. Twirling around, Bakuto quickly sliced down all of the weeds around him in one fluid motion. Letting out a sigh, Bakuto sheathed his blade into the holster at his waist. "Junan must be worried, I've been out here all day" he thought turning towards the village in the distance. Beginning to walk towards the village, Bakuto looked rather bored. As his foot touched the ground, he quickly tensed up. "Hmm..." he thought turning his head back. The Land of Sound was notoriously bad for covert missions, and the figure in the distance was a perfect example of this. "Seems there is a little birdy watching me" Bakuto said turning his body all the way around. The sudden rotation of Bakuto didn't go unnoticed on Darui's part, but he pretended as if he hadn't noticed it. Almost stepping on a passing hedgehog, he picked up a stick to throw at it, but hesitated as he got a better idea. Letting the little animal continue unharmed, he fasted up his pace as he realized the person whom had noticed matched the physical descriptions he had received. This wasn't really his way to go, but it should had to do it. A somersault within the air and a couple hand seals were all it took to launch a humongous into Bakuto's direction. Due the distance, it was unlikely it would hit him with any harmful impact, but it would survive as a noteworthy distraction. As the jet of water came towards Bakuto, he quickly drew his blade Konsō. Gripping his sandals into the ground, he quickly sliced downward at the water that was coming at him, splitting the jet in two. "Okay... Water Release" Bakuto thought quickly glancing at his attacker. His eyes locked onto the attacker, and Bakuto lunged with his blade in hand. Chakra began to surge around his blade, increasing its length another few feet. "Sound-Style.... Rapture!" Bakuto exclaimed, directly in front of the man. As the blade sliced through Darui, he and his attacker were engulfed in a cloud of smoke as the blade was revealed to be stuck in the stick Darui had been holding before. Now that one of Bakuto's blades was temporarily made unusable, the ground around him erupted in a , while Darui appeared at the same time, snatching Bakuto's other blade out of it's sheath in one fluid motion. Before Bakuto had time to react, he once again spitted out a jet of water. Because Bakuto was still struggling to get his sword out of the branch, and Darui was standing directly behind him with his other, he had clearly gained a tactical advantage. Quickly glancing back, Bakuto smirked as he ripped the blade from the branch. Bakuto's eyes quickly locked onto Akuma, inside Darui's grasp. Quickly spinning in place, Bakuto slammed Konsō into the side of Akuma attempting to knock Darui off his balance. "Akuma isn't just a senseless blade, it will only fight for its master" Bakuto said rather coldly. Sending a surge of chakra through Konsō, the vibrations quickly shook the hollow blade and sent the vibrations directly through Akuma. "He'll have to let the vibrations break his bones, or he'll have to drop the blade" Bakuto thought, not letting up on his attack. Taking the most wise decision, Darui dropped Bakuto's blade but kicked it away before it could even touch the ground, sending it flying above the wall of water, temporarily out of reach as long as his water release stood fast. Unsheathing his own sword, he sliced at Bakuto with it while he performed hand seals with his free left hand. Before his cleaver had reached Bakuto, he spat out once again a massive jet of water, which' pressure would aid his strike in power and give Bakuto a nasty attack to defend against. "Defensive Stance" Bakuto announced, quickly turning Konsō to its side. As Darui's blade bounced off his own, the water from the powerful jet quickly faded as well as its chakra was drained from the seal along the blade. "Don't take me lightly, I'm wise enough to create counter measures for all situations" Bakuto said pushing Darui away with Konsō. Jumping back, Akuma was at Bakuto's foot. Kicking it into the air, he held the blade in his left hand with Konsō in his right. "So far, he's only a user.." Bakuto chimed. Letting the wall of water fall down and mold into a puddle, Darui twisted his blade. He shook off the cap of his robe, revealing his face, and with a lazy look in his eyes, charged at Bakuto, his cleaver generating sparks as it clashed with Bakuto's blades. The two swordmasters were locked in sword combat, and despite Darui's own expertise, he could feel that the man had been training on nothing but his sword arts for his whole life, giving him an advantage in kenjutsu. Sliding under one of Bakuto's downward attacks, he tumbled and rose to his feet again behind Bakuto's back, swinging his blade in a gigantic arc while calling out " ". Aiming both blades up, Darui's sword clashed against the sharp edge of his swords. "That technique, is a mock of the style of the samurai... I think I will show toy the extent to my power" Bakuto said as he forced Akuma and Konsō downward, attempting to overpower Darui. "Sound-Style Sonic Boom" Bakuto said as white chakra surrounded his blades. Exerting all the pressure he could onto Darui, Bakuto was attempting to bring his attacker to his knees with this attack. The explosion that followed was ear-shattering. Darui has been informed of Bakuto's sound-based attacks, but the reality was so intriguing no description in any document would have been fitting enough. In a moment of sheer luck where the pressure was a little bit less, Darui rolled backwards and managed to rise from his feet with considerable effort, the technique still resonating within his bones. Right. Time to get serious. The various water techniques he had used had done their work: the battlefield was covered by a thin shield of water, and Bakuto himself had been soaked. Placing his hands on the ground, Darui grinned as he stated " ", sending a powerful surge of lightning through the water, straight at Bakuto. Watching the motions of Darui, Bakuto saw the spark of electricity from the man. Stabbing the blade of Akuma into the ground a surge of chakra let out as the charge came towards him. Absorbing the electricity into his blade, Bakuto lifted it out and aimed it at Darui. "Care to tell me why you are trying so hard to have me dead?" Bakuto chimed. "Why does a rock fall down a canyon when pushed off the edge? It's kind of dull, but just because he has to." Charging electricity into his sword, he once again charged at Bakuto. This time, however, he took a different approach, aiming to attack once he had entered the zone around Bakuto's lower body, at such a close distance his twin blades would hinder one another, and where he could use the relative shortness of his own sword to strike quickly before retreating. Holding the cleaver in both of his hands, he charged at Bakuto to execute his plan. "Your underestimating me..." Bakuto chimed as he quickly flipped the blades, having them point downward. Darui's blade slammed against his own two, Bakuto smirking as the sound of them clashing rang through the air. Quickly gripping his sandal into the dirt, the blades of Akuma and Konsō began to glow a deep white. "The signature technique of the Samurai, allows me to extend the reaches and the power of my blades" Bakuto hissed, his tone changed greatly from before. "It seems that this range is perfect for me..." Bakuto said as chakra began to erupt around him. "This blade here... Konsō, its unique not in the fact that its body is hollow but the fact that its forged from a Tailed Beast itself" he continued as the chakra around Konsō began to taint a deep red. Bakuto had just released the potential of the Offspring of the Eight. Darui frowned and released one hand from the blade's handle. Ignoring the pain emanating from the eradicating coat of chakra, he pushed his hand through until he touched Bakuto's chest. "Tailed Beast eh? I'm sorry for the guy whom you took it from" he smirked before releasing a gigantic blast of energy, point-blank range, while at the same time swattering Bakuto's blades out of his range. As the explosion enveloped Bakuto, a cloud of smoke erupted from the blast. Leaping backwards out of the smoke, Bakuto skid across the grassy knoll that was charred from Darui's blast. Despite the blast he took, charring his kimono and skin Bakuto managed a smirk. Lifting up Akuma, it was gleaming with the Darui's blood. "The unique thing about Akuma is that it can mimic the last chakra nature used of anyone it cuts" Bakuto chimed. Raising Akuma, a glowing yellow light surrounded it followed by a thick coat of clouds around the area. "Storm Release: Akuma" he chimed slicing downward, sending a spiraling blast of energy towards Darui. "Last chakra nature eh? Very interesting" Darui said to himself before spitting out a wall of water again to block the jutsu. The energy was spread across the surface of the wall as it collided, charging it with it's part-lightning nature and causing the water to flare up a bright golden. He then followed up by placing both of his hands on the wall of water, without any visible harm, and firing a jet of water of his left while at the same time firing from his others. The two attacks picked up the charged water wall with them and then intertwined, supplementing each other's powers drastically and speeding towards Bakuto. At the last moment, however, Darui caused the gigantic to split in two and circle around Bakuto, with the intent of crushing him within a 360° attack with no option of escape. Impressed by the attack, Bakuto had little time to react. Lifting up Akuma and unsheathing Konsō, Bakuto spun quickly. With the use of Akuma, Bakuto released an arc of white energy that disrupted the flow of the incoming water and Konsō's own large chakra supply pushed against the force of the water. Bakuto used the extra time he had from forcing back the water to leap into the air. With his back to Darui, Bakuto knew he left himself open. "I need to give myself some time..." Bakuto thought in mid air. "This is getting kinda dull. I'm sorry for revealing the Third's technique so soon, but I need to end it now while he's open" Glowing with a black aura of energy, Darui let out a titanic blast of in the shape of a at Bakuto's vulnerable back. His current, "floating" poosition would make it difficult to evade, even with his expertise. Feeling the intensity of the attack coming towards him, Bakuto smirked. "Perfect..." he thought before giving a spin in mid air. As the Black Lightning made contact, he quickly disappeared from sight and reappeared behind Darui. His right arm scalded from the Black Lightning and his bones now shaky as they coursed with electricity. Slicing down on Darui, Bakuto once more drew blood with Akuma. "What a technique you used there, it may not be a chakra nature but its distinct enough for Akuma to mimic it" Bakuto chimed as Akuma began to surge with black electricity. The outline of a Panther appeared behind Bakuto as he lunged for a killing blow. The black lightning made contact with Darui without doing any damage at all. Stopping the now lighting-deprived sword with his own, Darui smirked. "Guess I'll have to be sorry for ya, black lighting can only be used by those wearing the tattoo. Whenever it's reversed, the tattoo will instantly neutralize all possible damage and disperse the chakra without my own network." Swinging his cleaver, he forced Bakuto back and then slashed down, his blade now imbued with the same black lightning which' effects he had explained seconds before. The vibration rate was so high the outline of the blade had become hazy, and the slash would appear like an amateur brush stroke to an untrained eye, leaving a trail of black energy in it's wake. The black energy erupted around Bakuto, engulfing him in its wake. "You under estimate me still" Bakuto chimed as he ripped through the blast of black energy. Konsō in his hand was now surging with chakra, itself growing eight "tail-like" appendages from its blade. "Deafening Vertical Blow" called Bakuto slicing vertically towards Darui. "His blade is to heavy to just be tossed up to block... I got him!" Bakuto thought as he went through with the technique. Because Bakuto's attack came in to fast to block with his sword, Daru released another surge of black lightning from his body, shaped like a small panther. The lightning emanating from his body wasn't strong enough to cause any serous damage, but still pushed Bakuto back a few meters. Darui remained stationary for a second, slightly panting from the efforts and the loss of chakra. He then pointed his arm up, and as he muttered "Storm Release: Energy Pool", a bright beam of energy shot out of his palm, into the sky. The next moment hundreds of bright beams rained down from the vortex, their paths twisted like that of a snake. Each one of them aimed straight at Bakuto, each one sure to strike with pin-point accuracy like guided missiles.